The Regional Committee to Combat Racism, Xenophobia all forms of discrimination of PSI Interamerica renounces the systematic structural racism in Brazil, where on November 19, on the eve of the commemoration of ‘Black Consciousness Day’, Mr. João Alberto Freitas, 40 years old, a professional welder, was brutally beaten to death by two security guards at a supermarket of the multinational Carrefour in the city of Porto Alegre, an event which has shocked public opinion in the country and around the world.

This event, which is similar to that of the American George Floyd, has provoked a wave of protests in several Brazilian cities.

Public demonstrations of outrage increased in response to the cynical statements of the Brazilian president and vice-president who publicly declared that racism is imported and does not exist in Brazil. But Brazilian statistics tell a very different story. 6,357 Brazilians were killed by police alone in 2019, 79.1% of whom were of African descent, most of them young people. This same government has abolished nine specific public policies on racial equality.

WE declare

That 'Black Lives Matter' in Brazil!

We denounce the selective killings of people of African descent in Brazil.

We stand in solidarity with the black population of Brazil and demand racial justice for Mr. João Alberto Freitas and all those murdered by police and racial violence in Brazil.

Sandra Marin Cheuquelaf - Southern Cone
Jucelia Viera - Brazil
Miguel Angel Cúmez Oxlaj - Central America
Tifonie Powell - Caribbean
Jason MacLean - Canada
Wayne Spence - United States
Agripina Hurtado Caicedo - Coordinator, Andean countries